Below. A dangerous freeze grips half the country. A severe winter like storm could bring two feet of snow to the rockies. Many cities can expect to be 20 to 40 degrees below normal. The worst storm in quite a few years. The engineer on the deadly commuter train crash told investigators he was quote, in a daze as he approached the sharp curve. He caught himself too late. President joe biden arrived in beijing to talk to the Vice President. He publicly rebuked china in recent days. Two sky divers dead after colliding during a jump south of phoenix. 18 billion in red. The city of detroit gets the go ahead to file for bankruptcy. Labor unions plan to appeal. Theres going to be pain for a lot of different people. Lawson arrived preparing to give evidence in the trial of her two former assist ents. The Space Shuttle has launched. All that for some reason he threw it into the crowd. Thats one of the Stranger Things youll see. Youve had a lot of success without a mush tach. You look like a baby lam. The capitol is brighter after getting holiday glitz. Three, two, one. On cbs this morning. An International Report card for schools has four grades for u. S. Students. In math it was well below average. Luckily American Students will never understand because theyre 85th in reading. Welcome to cbs this morning. Good morning norah. Again bad weather. It is there. Good morning to you char. I we begin with the winter storm threatening millions of americans. Rocky mountains and northern plains, heavy snow up you to 15 inches that could fall in denver today. Winter storm warnings are in ten states. Our station wcco is in minneapolis. Reporter good morning charlie and norah. The snow has been falling in Downtown Minneapolis and throughout much of the state overnight. Most drivers in Downtown Minneapolis appearing to using caution. Theres a winter storm in effect until tomorrow morning. This has blanketed parts of northern minnesota with 26 inches of snow. Four drivers have been killed in weather related crashes this week. Dozens of schools are closed or delayed throughout the state today. Police are urging drivers to stay off the roads if they can. Visibility is reduced to less than a mile in some places. The combination of strong winds and heavy snow could result inoutages. The snow is expected throughout the day. There will be plenty left to shovel before the deep freeze sets in. Reporter high temperatures over the weekend are expected to be Single Digits. In minneapolis, this storm is giving drivers problems in the far west also. Several inches on the ground in re reno nevada bracing for coldest temperatures of the year. Our chicago station wbbm is tracking it all. Talking about a major storm system plunge through the rockies and across parts of dakotas, minnesota and wisconsin. It wraps up in the rockies but continues for much of wednesday for wisconsin and minnesota. Almost two feet in the central rockies. Already a foot in northern minnesota. They could see six to 12 inches today. After the snow comes the cold. Were talking about 20 to 40 degrees below temperatures today. Record lows across parts of the growing regions of california. Dangerous cold will continue filtering in across the eastern half of the United States slowly this week. This sets up a late week ice storm potentially texas to pennsylvania that could start midday tomorrow. Charlie, norah. Megan is in chicago. Theres still no official cause for the deadly derailment accident. The investigation is focused on the engineer rockefeller. Jeff is at the scene in the bronx. Good morning. Reporter good morning charlie, norah, our viewers out west. Rockefeller, the engineer met with investigators last night and told them he experienced a quote, hypnotic daze before the train veered off the tracks. The i shall if officials discovered the train was traveling three times the speed limit. William rockefeller jr. Wasnt completely focused according to Law Enforcement officials and rail union chief. The engineer said he slipped into a daze just before the crash. He zoned out. Had one of those whoa where you drive the car, stair at the same thing so long. He zoned. He caught himself but too late. Tuesday the ntsb said alcohol tests for rockefeller and the crew came back negative. They wouldnt comment on his state of mind but found no sign of mechanical trouble. Theres no indication the brake systems were not functioning properly. Just two weeks before the crash the ntsb says rockefeller switched from night shift to day shift. He clocked in sunday 5 04 a. M. Second day of a workweek. He typically worked nine how are shifts and was supposed to make two round trips that day. Theres indication he would have gotten full restored sleep. Rockefeller hasnt been seen publicly since the crash. The former supervisor and friend came to his defense. It was everyday practices for him. Theres been a tremendous amount of work over the days to clear the tracks. Now some Commuter Services have resumed this morning in this area. Charlie, norah. All right, jeff thank you. Vice President Joe Biden met with the president of china two hours in beijing longer than expected. Biden is calling for trust in the high level face to face talks are china over the self defense zone. Reporter the Vice President arrived in china today where he continued unexpectedly difficult diplomatic dance. One of his first stops was the u. S. Embassy in beijing where he met visa applicants. He spoke candidly with the hundreds lined up. Biden reiterated u. S. Opposition to chinas new air defense zone as he met with japans Prime Minister in tokyo tuesday. Chinas zone overlaps with one policed already by japan which includes air space over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries. This action has raised regional tensions and increased the risk of accidents and miscalculations. Just ahead of the Vice President s visit, chinas Defense Ministry said it would continue to enforce the zone and is, quote, fully capable of exercising control. Biden stopped short of calling on china to revoke the zone. Why . Theyre not going to. You know theyre not going to. Then you look weak. Jim mcgregor is an author and business man set to take part in economic meetings with the Vice President tomorrow. How does this conflict over the air defense zone change bidens visit . It derails the visit for what it was supposed to be. This was supposed to be about economics. Now we have this air defense thing overshadowing it. Reporter the Vice President and chinas president are scheduled to have dinner tonight. The event is off limits to the press. The question is behind closed doors, will the two leaders be able to set a side the decisive issues making headlines and instead make head way on issues including north korea, the economy, and trade where china and the United States might cooperate . For cbs this morning, seth doane, beijing. This morning unions and retirees in detroit prepare appeals. A federal judge ruled tuesday the motor city can cut pensions clearing the way for detroit to enter bankruptcy. This decision is a major blow putting Municipal Workers on edge and cities across the country. Dean reynolds is in detroit. Good morning. Reporter good many. Detroit officials are talking about a fresh start through bankruptcy. That will involve very tough cuts and many Public Sector retirees here are bracing for painful sacrifices that could set a precedence around the country. Do you feel betrayed . I feel betrayed shortchanged. I feel angry. I feel a lot of Different Things now. Get you moving and then try the treadmill. David allen was a firefighter 20 years before the on the job accident left him barely able to stand. Hes been getting a monthly pension of 3,000 from the city but he knows thats coming to an end. The reality is theres not enough hundred to address the situation no matter what we do. Allen is among the 23,000 public retirees facing an uncertain future. If they cut my pension to what theyre talking about, 16 cents on the dollar theres another empty house in the city of detroit. I cant afford it. The fact is that detroit cannot pay its bills or provide basic services. The judge said its in solvent. The short handed police force takes 58 minutes on average to respond to a call for help. The National Average is 11 minutes. At any one time twothirds of the citys 36 ambulances are not running. This is a National Humiliation isnt it . Its a bad day. Its also a bad day for other cities and counties following detroit. Consider the 25 major u. S. Cities said to be short, combined 125 billion of what they owe in retirement benefits. If detroit is allowed to cut pension benefit, critics fear others might be likely to consider bankruptcy an option to do the same. What we do today affect those that come after us even next year. Reporter no other major u. S. City is in deep a hole as detroit. With 18 billion in debt everybody agreed something had to be done to save the city. Charlie, norah. All right dean thank you. Next week the senate will act on a gun control bill passed by the house on tuesday. It extends the existing law that bans guns able to get around metal detectors or xray machines including those made from plastic 3d printers. An investigative journalist showed how easy it is to slip a plastic gun through security. They became within yards of Prime Minister benjamin netanyahu. They face fierce opposition. Nancy Nancy Nancy Nancy cordes is on capitol hill. House republicans actually extended the ban as is yesterday. Some Senate Democrats argue that Dangerous New Technology has rendered it obsolete. Those in favor say i. Those opposed, no. The bill the house passed tuesday prohibits the manufacture of guns that contain less than 3. 7 ounces of metal. Renewing a ban dating back to 1988. Democrats say that leaves a loophole that needs to be closed. A plastic gun with detachable metal parts could be disassemble disassembled they say. The ban needs to require all guns require a piece of metal that cannot be removed. Gun right supporters say youre creating a problem now. Who wants to be the first every person person to be injured or killed by a bullet fired by a plastic gun . Nobody. Why dont we protect the American People from that possibility. The National RifleAssociation Says the nra strongly opposes any expansion of the fire arms act. The debate took on significance this year after a texas man, cody wilson managed to build a mostly plastic gun using a home 3d printer. The state department was so concerned others might try it they ordered him to remove the blueprints from his website. Chuck schumer is pushing the ban on the bill next week. Every antiterror oimp groupism group says closing the loophole is required. If the senate fails or ends up being different from the house version, a fragile compromise or hot button issue could fall apart. Thanks nancy. This morning the Supreme Court is weighing the legal rights of a rabbi fighting with the airline over frequent flyer miles. This case could have implications for anyone wants to complain about service. Good morning. So what does this all mean . First of all i have to say isnt it crazy . Tli of the Supreme Court deciding cases like obama care. Here we are, a guy from minnesota who was really annoyed ant his service on the airline complained repeatedly. Northwest booted him off the frequent flyer program. In america, what did he do . He sued. Why did the court hear this . It involves serious complains about airlines a 1978 law says take that to the department of transportation. You cant file suits all over the country. Juries in other states cant set policies. Thats what northwest lawyers argued yesterday in saying if youve got a complaint take it to the department of transportation. Dont file a lawsuit. This is fascinating that a rabbi that complained about the frequent flyer program, they booted him off. What does hit mean for the rest of us . I think the justice seems skeptical although sympathetic. We all complain about airlines. We dont complain that much. It wont have impact on much people. We go on twitter, talk to neighbors, dont file a lawsuit. It could give the airlines more power. Jan, while we have you, what happened with alabama . Oh. You know what i left the house this morning to do the show. This is the first time ive been in public actually. Im wearing red. Norah, i appreciate the support. Can i just say roll tide. Or rolled tide. Charlie. Thanks jan. Got to go. This morning investigators in arizona are trying to figure out why two experienced sky divers collided in midair. They ended up plunging to their deaths. A group of 200 jumpers were trying to set a record tuesday. They fell and two sky divers ran into each other with 200 feet left to go. Their shoots collapsed. Its time to ho you this mornings headlines from around the globe. Los Angeles Times look at the meningitis outbreak at in california. A fourth student became ill. Sofrom fraternityies were urged not to hold parties to spread the disease. A bea con has been detected and a family of five was a board when the plane disappeared. The Software Executive from california reported a frosty start to the day this morning. The coldest temperatures of the season have rolled in and will stick around for some time to come. Mostly clear skies now over russian hill toward the golden gate bridge. That weak offshore wind bringing some dry cold air to the bay area right now, many of those temperatures in the 20s and 30s. As we head toward the afternoon, highs only in the 40s and 50s. I think an even colder start to the day tomorrow, maybe some showers on friday. Weather. A courtroom battle for an iconic portrait of the actress Farrah Fawcett. See whats behind the fight of her long partner ryan oneal. A single ounce of bourbon can sale for 50. Police are trying to solve what could be called the bourbon caper. Im Michelle Miller with the fight to stop a Christmas Tree filler. One of the most popular brands of holiday trees is in jeopardy. Farmers could lose millions. Well show you what it means on your next trip to the Christmas Tree lot. News is back on cbs cbs this morning. Stay tuned for your local news. News. Announcer this mornings cbs this morning sponsored by kay jewelers. Every kiss begins with kay. That youre in my life too. 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